Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc
The longstanding Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc on Kebir Blue is currently comprised of a single country, Snow, on the continent of Eridana. At it's peak, it was composed of three groups of countries on Eridana (4), Paova Major (3), and Lynx Minor (1) and two enterprises. Czar Scarlet, also known as Mizore, is leader of this empire. History Yeah, I'm going to use RL dates since I can't be bothered to try to convert to game-years. Please keep in mind that the events described actually occurred despite some embellishment to put it in-character so to speak. Ancient Era Not much is known about this era which occured somewhere between mid 2007 to mid 2008. No recorded history exists. However, Rudlander folklore tells of a time when John Fire, before his time as Pope of the Church of Simcountry, wandered the lands of Kebir Blue and for a short time united several nomadic tribes somewhere in the Mercury Mundo or Hora Est region to create a nation of people. Not much is known about these people, though historical precedent is to refer to them as the Fire people, after their prophetic leader. John Fire led them into the desert where they created the nation of Fire Saguaro, whose location has yet to be unearthed by archaeologists. The Rudlanders of the modern day Kebir Blue treat these Fire people as their ancestors. John Fire passed away, leaving no credible source of information. Machinist Era Sometime around May 2010, Scarlet received word on Golden Rainbow that there was a large group of people scattered across Kebir Blue, identifying themselves as Rudlanders, descendents of the Fire people and followers of the Church of Simcountry. Seeing this as an opportunity to expand his influence and enrich his coffers, Scarlet quickly set up a government in Country Identification #2442 called Scarlet Machinist for these scattered people. Many, but not all, Rudlanders flocked to the country and worked to create an economy from scratch. It was during this time that the enterprise Unkempt was founded. From Jun 2010 to Jul 2010, this nation and several others were federated together under the Independent Defense Coalition banner. However, lack of activity and interest caused the federation to disband on this world. http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/15109.html?1278077920 During this era, a space program was quickly developed, rivaling that of other players. This was perhaps best attributed to the use of highly dangerous artillery to project Shuttles into space. The use of Solid Missile Fuel for more reliable rockets only became possible later. The goal was to unite the Rudlanders of this world with their fellow people on Golden Rainbow. On 22 Jun 2010, Scarlet conducted the first space launch by a non-deity: "I've commenced what appears to be the fourth shuttle launch, and the first one done by a player. The Cargo Shuttle "Belasmo" has been sent (without cargo) from Scarlet Machinist on KB to Scarlet Zeppelin on LU." http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/1/15190.html?1305248229 This goal perhaps succeeded to well. The transfer of men and material between worlds quickly led to the collapse of Scarlet Machinist as more and more people migrated to Golden Rainbow. http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/15329.html?1302042351 First Overrike Era However, this is not the end of the story! Despite the collapse of the official nation of the Rudlander people. There was a vast Rudlander diaspora that continued to live throughout many nations and worked in the factories of Unkempt, known as Scarlet Industries in this era, spread far and wide across the world as managers, engineers, and workers. Constant communication between Rudlanders here and on far away Golden Rainbow and Little Upsilon, where significant Rudlander empires were established, ensured that all was not forgotten or lost on Kebir Blue. In response to the communist designs of Josef Lenin of the Soviet Republic of Zeon, Scarlet returned to Kebir Blue yet again in Dec 2010 to create another government for Rudlanders in Country Identification #2868. The prompting event was the open and aggressive nationalization of a corporation owned by Scarlet Industries, and the result was the immediate formation of a new Rudlander government. http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/15912.html?1292926276 The nation was called Scarlet Fountainhead, and Scarlet immediately took aggressive action in trying to establish a permanent home for the Rudlander people by declaring all of Draca Mixor territory of the Scarlet ManiFISTo federation. http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/15912.html?1292926276 The coming weeks proved electric as many players stepped up to denounce this policy. The offending Soviet Republic of Zeon collapsed without a shot fired due to the unilateral political pressure alone. Upon the Rudlander empire reaching War Level 3, those presidents quick to denounce this policy never actually stepped up to challenge Scarlet, many remaining below War Level 3 despite hiring the services of vagrant Rudlanders interested in shaking things up. http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/15961.html?1293215638 As such, things returned to the normal day to day business of profit. The beneficial effect of this time was that room for the enterprise Unkempt to expand its business was provided by the new government which transitioned into becoming the Scarlet Capitalist Republic. Neighboring C3 countries were pirated and much profit was had by all. Sometime later, both the enterprise and leader country were left under the management of CorporatePartner for safekeeping. This protected them from the mysterious disappearance of Scarlet in Aug 2011. It was reported that Scarlet's disappearance may be related to the mysterious disappearance of his weapons on Little Upsilon. Second Overrike Era However, this is still not the end of the story! Despite the disappearance of Scarlet, the Rudlander people still enjoyed good lives in their homeland and abroad across Kebir Blue under the capable leadership of CorporatePartner. In Mar 2012, Scarlet reacquired Unkempt and launched "Operation Ascension" with ethnic Rudlanders on Eridana to reestablish a new homeland for the Rudlander people in Country Identification #1809 which became called the Scarlet Overrike. Several neighboring C3 countries were pirated in a short period of time to quickly propel the empire to War Level 3. A detailed report can be found here: http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/19367.html?1332433133 A period of quiet expansion occurred with Bastion being conquered in Dec 3163, Citadel being conquered in Dec 3165, Ruthless being purchased in Jan 3172 from Gothamloki, Genesis and Adept being conquered in Dec 3175, and Pandora being conquered in Nov 3176. The period of expansion occurred during real-time Mar-Apr 2012. During this time, Scarlet aligned himself with Sunny of the federation Avalanche. Ethnic Rudlanders traveled from across Kebir Blue to populate these new nations. Unlike before, the number of ethnic Rudlanders across Kebir Blue had skyrocketed, fueling massive population growth exceeding the ability of the economy to absorb the influx of immigrants. Unemployment in some countries reached as high as 65%! A program to draw in enterprises and fuel private industry growth was embarked upon. Among other things, advertisements were posted to draw in private industry. http://www.simcountry.com/discus/messages/3710/19772.html?1336597004 May-Aug 2012 was a period of quiet economic growth to follow the period of quiet political expansion. Scarlet's presence in leading the empire had diminished with lower-level orderlies handling most of the day-to-day business. During this time, Sunny disappeared, causing Scarlet to sever ties with Avalanche, reforming the Scarlet ManiFISTo as an emergency measure. From Apr 2012 to Oct 2012, the Scarlet Overrike grew from 247M to 333M people. In Oct 2012, Scarlet disappeared. Early Modern Era Taking the reins of power after Scarlet's disappearance, Mizore rose to become Czar of the Scarlet Overrike. Instituting a wide variety of reforms, Mizore repaired the indexes that had slumped after the late Scarlet's lack of oversight. Programs for leveling the population of each country and encouraging popoulation growth were implemented. However, most noticeable was the alteration of the names of each region of the Scarlet Overrike itself. Scarlet Overrike, Bastion, Citadel, Pandora, Ruthless, Genesis, and Adept were renamed to Snow, Rain, Sleet, Cloud, Hail, Frost, and Mist. With sweeping reforms and new names, the Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc was official born. Unkempt II was founded to help speed the development of private enterprise in these nation and WAR KB5, now Ice, was purchased and its population was encouraged to move to the more stable portions of the empire. Along with even more new immigration by non-Rudlanders, these factors have contributed to the weakening of the homogenous culture of the Scarlet Overrike previously maintained by Rudlanders. This new empire, though recently declared, has a long history on Kebir Blue. Building on this long history, Mizore intends to lead this empire peacefully into the future. Mizore led the transition to an almost exclusive private economy. In Jan 2013, Mizore retired and Scarlet reappeared to take the reins of power. Scarlet joined the Soviet Federation to expand the Bloc's potential allies. Things have gone smoothly. There has been peace for many decades and the economy has bloomed with slow, robust growth of a completely free market economy. Population growth of the empire has dipped to replacement levels, making any expansion to the economy represent a clear rise in standards of living for many citizens. Weapons stockpiles in the event of war have slowly grown as well, but remain stored within the stocks of militias, cooperatives, and private citizens representing themselves through the Unkempt group. Competition for military jobs remains high, which has allowed increasing selectiveness in finding the best people to man it's current network of fortifications and logistics bases. Modern Era The Bloc has progressed into a period of stability. As of Apr 2013, the population of the grew to 417M. It has remained more or less stable since the last census, growing a mere 1M since Jan 2013. Notably, the total production value has decreased from approximately 2.1T per month to a mere 1.6T. However, this drop in production is believed to be caused by the worldwide deflationary trends rather than represent a true drop in production. As evidence, worldwide production has dropped similarly from 79T to 60T, meaning the share of the world economy has slightly increased by a few hundredths of a percentage point. In the beginning of May 2013, Scarlet passed the Rosarius Act which initiated the purchase of weapons and ammunition along with defensive plans intended to beef up its token security forces. Following several months of militarization, it was realized that no empire in existence was capable of an assault on the Bloc homeland. Additionally, the Bloc had transitioned to a fully privatized economy with zero state run industries remaining. Given a lack of purpose, the Scarlet government collapsed at the peak of its power leaving all countries and enterprises associated with the Bloc to crumble into obscurity. Now The Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc currently survives as a single country, Snow with fewer than 15M people. Government Though nominally an Anarchy, the Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc is better called a Constitutional Post-Anarchy. Initially starting as a dictatorship under Scarlet, the inattentiveness of its Dictator caused massive decentralization of the institutions of government with local groups of citizens coming to the fore to govern themselves, yet still adhering to the liberal principles of the Scarlet Overrike. To everyone involved, the central government became only nominal, holding no real authority. Who held the real authority depended primarily on who you asked, but for the most part, local police forces, citizens militias, cooperatives, and city councils took control as the military disbanded slowly. This period of de facto anarchy lasted until Mizore gathered support among the various local governments still calling themselves part of the Scarlet Overrike and instituted a new charter that, aside from re-establishing a centralized military, effectively just legitimized the way things were currently being operated. Thus, a sort of paradoxical institutional anarchy came about that most educated people have come to call Constitutional Post-Anarchy. The military is run by the Czar, who has complete authority to declare war, purchase weapons, and conduct military operations. Aside from acting as Chief of the empire's military, the office of the Czar is merely advisory in every other area of government. Income Taxes and Corporate Taxes are locked in at permanent rates by the Charter. Local governments determine Health, Education, and Social Security programs and are limited to those funds provided by the fixed revenue rates. However, many citizens voluntarily contribute beyond what they are taxed to help fund education and healthcare programs. Revenues from citizens owning factories in the affiliated enterprises contribute greatly to improving the overall financial situation of the empire. While some localities are run by city councils and others by militias, the Charter guarantees the liberties of Life, Liberty, and Property for all citizens. This charter is both backed by the central military and a culture of people that respect these rights even without a government, as was evidenced during the period of anarchy. The Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc has few remaining state corporations from the transition from dictatorship to anarchy to post-anarchy. Those still in existence are being slowly closed to make way for new private industries. Organizations * Enterprise: Unkempt (defunct) * Enterprise: Unkempt II (defunct) * Leader: Snow * Satellite: Rain (defunct) * Satellite: Sleet (defunct) * Satellite: Cloud (defunct) * Satellite: Hail (defunct) * Satellite: Frost (defunct) * Satellite: Mist (defunct) * Satellite: Ice (defunct) Foreign Relations * Federation: None * Common Market: None * Treaties: None Society and Culture Despite a long history of ethnic strife, the Snow-Unkempt Industrial Bloc is home to a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, and linguistic groups. With the original iterations of the Scarlet Overrike designed specifically to provide a home to the Rudlander diaspora, the majority ethnic group has long been Rudlanders. However, the latest government represented an ease of policies designed to homogenize the culture and pressure ethnic minorities into adopting Rudlander language and culture. Additionally, early military expansion and later economic growth have caused an influx of immigrants and peoples through conquest and immigration. Both factors have seen a decline in what was originally a homogenous society. The majority ethnic Rudlanders comprise the backbone of the Snow-Unkempt Bloc. Originating from Golden Rainbow, the communities of Rudlanders have historically housed the administrative and military centers of the empire and large rates of membership in the reformed branch of the Church of Simcountry. The largest minority, the Aoi people, emigrated from Little Upsilon seeking better lives on Kebir Blue following contamination of their home regions with nuclear fallout. During the days of dictatorship, their language was banned. However, since the easing of restrictions and the collapse of the empire, they have come to comprise a dominant ethnic group with the nation of Snow. The largest number of adherents to the philosophy of Binarism come from this group The native Kebirians compromise the third largest cultural group within the Bloc. Despite this, there is difficulty in distinguishing between Kebirians and members of other ethnic groups due to the high rate of assimilation with other cultures. For many Kebirians, the mixed ethnic backgrounds and assimilation with Rudlander culture make the decision to self-identify as Kebirian or Rudlander one of personal preference. The Rojo people trace a similar lineage as that of the Rudlanders, coming from Golden Rainbow. While the Rudlander homeland was situated on Lacerta, the Rojo homeland was situated in southeastern Lynx Minor. Most of the Rojo people identify strongly with orthodox beliefs of the Church of Simcountry whereas the Rudlander people and assimilationist policies treated such beliefs as heretical to the reformed Church of Simcountry. Ethnicity * Rudlander 43.53% * Aoi 39.28% * Kebirian 11.84% * Rojo 5.35% Religion * No Religion 47.75% * Church of Simcountry (Reformed) 32.25% * Zero-One Binarism 16.25% * Church of Simcountry (Orthodox) 4.75% Category:Kebir Blue Category:Empires Category:Countries